A painting a day · No. 9 of 38
Judith Slaying Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–c. 1656)
c. 1612–1613 · Oil on canvas · Museo di Capodimonte, Naples
The story
The Bible's Judith saves her city by killing the enemy general, Holofernes. Artemisia painted it soon after the 1612 trial of the painter Agostino Tassi for raping her — a trial in which she was the one tortured to test her word.
Look closer
- The maid, Abra, is not watching: she is holding him down.
- Judith has rolled up her sleeves, like someone doing hard work.
- The hilt of the sword makes the shape of a cross.
Did you know
In 1616 she became the first woman member of Florence's Academy of the Arts of Drawing. She painted a second version, now in the Uffizi.
Why we can show it
Artemisia Gentileschi died in about 1656. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1727. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.